Braveheart remains robust despite fall in profit

The results compare unfavourably with the same period last year when the company made a profit of £475,000 on revenue of £562,000, but that period included a book profit of £303,000 on one disposal.

Stripping out the effects of that one-off disposal, profits were slightly up, as the firm said valuations of its investments remain largely unchanged at the half-year stage.

The fair value of the group’s investment was £1.031m which comprises the valuations of the historic investments made by Braveheart up to 2015 of £368,000 and the strategic investments (the three investments made by Braveheart from 2016 of £663,000.

This figure includes the additional investments made into these three companies during the period under review of £160,000.

Braveheart expects to review the valuations of the investments when preparing the full-year accounts for the current financial year.

By the end of this month Braveheart’s stake in Gyrometric, a wind turbine technology company, will have risen from 40 per cent to 56.6 per cent as a result of an agreement to acquire existing shares in the company from Nottingham Trent University.

As a result of its stake rising above 50 per cent, Gyrometic will need to be consolidated into Braveheart’s accounts for the current year.

During the reporting period, Braveheart invested further in Paraytec, a scientific instrument company, including a convertible loan which, if converted, is expected to increase its total holding to 48 per cent.

Trevor Brown, chief executive officer of Braveheart, said: “The primary focus of the board over the next months will be to work energetically with the boards of our Strategic Investments to promote medium and longer-term capital growth from the expansion of their operations.

He added: “With the many operational and corporate initiatives and developments currently underway in our portfolio, we anticipate a busy and exciting period ahead and we view the future of the group with confidence.”